faith and hope. The apostle speaks of it here, as a thing that had passed all these believing Hebrews. He reckons that all of them who had faith, had one way or other made a profes sion of it. Ministers themselves are or should be eminent professors. Indeed their profession is very public; every time they preach, they profess. The apostle takes notice of this, 1 Tim. vi. 12. Thou hast professed a good profession before many witnesses; and every time Timothy preached faith, and called others to the hope of eternal life, he did thereby witness to his own faith in so doing. Churches are societies appointed by Jesus Christ, wherein his name is to be held forth in the world; and there is high reason, that all who desire to join with them in partaking of gospel-privileges, should make to them a profession of their faith. Notwithstanding all the corruption that is this day in the world, (for I chuse rather to call it the world than the church), yet there is some thing of this remaining in all that pretend to the name of a church; only, that they account their profession is most wo fully mistaken. There are a great many who reckon it pro fession enough, if people be born in a land where Christianity is the common and established profession. Thus it is in the Antichristian kingdom generally. Some reckon, that their outward attendance on ordinances, and outward attendance upon the established religion, is enough to get men the name of professors; it may do so, but this is still short of a profession of faith. Sometimes there is assent required to be expressed unto points of truth or doctrine that a particular church espouses; and if men pass that test, this is thought to be a profession by a great many. In the mean time, the thing in my text is still omitted, and that is, the profession of a man's faith. It is not only the profession of the truth of the point of doctrine he assents to, but of his assent in it, that is necessary. 1. It is greatly for the honour of Jesus Christ, that men should knit themselves visibly under his standard and banner. Our Lord Jesus Christ is no such master, that people should be ashamed to wear his livery, and give themselves to him. Again, it is greatly for the advantage of peo ple too. You know there are two great plagues the church of Christ has been distressed by, and it will never be quite

free from them; a multitude of hypocrites in a fair day, and a multitude of apostates in a foul day. When summer-weather is, hypocrites increase to a multitude; when a storm comes, they are blown away as chaff by the wind. What is likely to be the only way that can prevent the abounding of these dreadful scandals? If there were strictness in calling for the truth of peoples faith, for the making of them give a true profession of it, if they had it, truly they would be found to adhere to the Lord, far more closely in a day of trial. It is thought to be an outward glory to the gospel and Jesus Christ, to have a great multitude of professors of his name; but the scandal that their conversation gives, and the grievous offences that their apostacy makes, countervail it wofully. Pray, what sort of advantage is it to a poor sinner, to be admitted and entertained in the fellowship of saints, who himself hath no faith at all? People are apt to think that the minister or church are very strict, or severe, that will not admit them to the Lord's table. Sirs, there is a great deal of love in this. What have you to do there, if you have not faith? It is but as it were tendering you poison; for so the special ordinances of the gospel are unto them that have not faith. Therefore,

Thirdly, You see hence what your duty is; to make a profession of faith. Do not look upon it as a matter indifferent, whether you profess it or no. Say you, If I have faith, that will save me; what matter is it, whether the world know it. or no? Commonly they that have most of it, make the least noise of it; but it is a duty lying upon believers, to make profession of their faith. I will give you a few things for this. 1. Let us see the Old Testament precepts, that were typical of New Testament practices. There is a notable one in Deut. xxvi. 3, 5, 6, 7. I will read it to you, because it hath something worth special regard: ver. 3. And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us. They would have all the country know that they are there, and that all the kingdoms round about them might know that they are there; nay, but says the Lord, I will enjoin this upon you,

that when you bring the first-fruits of the earth, you make this profession before God. And there is more of their profession, in ver. 5. And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. Poor Jacob went down to Egypt for want of bread to eat, where God made him a great kingdom. Now, how easy is the spiritual application of this? A Christian is to profess before the Lord his God, that a Syrian ready to perish was his father, nay, not only ready to perish, but that had perished already, and was condemned by the righteous law of God, and yet the Lord had mercy, and gave his grace to him. 2. We find the Old Testament promises of the New Testament practices. Several of them speak forth this profession very peremptorily: Isa. xliv. 3, 5. I will pour (says the Lord) water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will poar my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring. And what shall come on it? One shall say, I am the Lord's: and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob: and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. How explicit are these words, One shall say, I am the Lord's! It is not, that they shall only be the Lord's, but they shall say so. There is subscribing with the hand, there is changing of the name: He shall subscribe with the hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. What can this be? Why, he will account himself of, he will enter by his own act and deed into the family of Israel. It is not, that he will compare himself with so great a man as Jacob, so mighty a prince and wrestler with God; nevertheless, to all the privileges he desires to lay claim, and to have the same God to be his God. There is only one word now that is commonly repeated, and as commonly ill understood, as any words we know in the mouths of people; it is the word in the creed as we call it. "I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of "saints." "I believe in the holy catholic church," is, I believe that Jesus Christ hath a holy church scattered up and down the earth. This "communion of saints" is of another consideration, as it were one of the privileges of this great

church. If there were no saints upon earth to have commu nion one with another, there would be no church on earth; the church would expire. Blessed be God, that can never be till the Judge come, when the communion of saints ceaseth, and endeth only. Now, here is a grievous fault amongst many people that make some kind of profession. First, some enter into a profession; they slip into it they do not know how; a great many years they have borne the name of professors. What said you? what did you? Do you think the bare crowding to assemblies, where the word of God and prayer is used, will make any think with themselves, This is a man that makes profession of faith? He should do so, and the very outward appearance should never be but with this design; but it is not enough to convey the conviction: for it is certain, that is done many times by them that are quite void of faith. Some again make a profession of their faith once, and they think that is enough for as long as they live; whereas, all our life long, we should be declaring the faith that is lodged in our heart. The whole course of our conversation is but going on in profession; yet many make a profession, and contradict it daily by their conversation. Now, it is a principle that the world will never beat out of wise mens minds, that always deeds will be regarded before words; we will prove mens minds rather by what they do, than by what they say. If a man have a profession of faith in his mouth, and have his conversation quite contrary, no man regards what he says, Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? says our Lord, Luke vi. 46. They profess, says the apostle, that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate, Titus i. 16. But so much now shall serve for this, the subject-matter of the apostle's exhortation, the profession of our faith.

The second thing in the exhortation, is, the duty itself about this profession that he enjoins; that is, Holding it fast without wavering: I take them both together. The thing that I am to speak to is this,

That Christians should be stedfast in their profession. Whatever faith or hope they make by word or deed, they

should be stedfast in it, they should hold it fast: Let us hold fast our profession, says the apostle, Heb. iv. 14.

In speaking to this, I would shew, what is to be held fast; why it is; and how what is the matter of the duty; what the enforcements to it; and what the manner of it.

I. What it is that is to be held fast, when we are commanded to hold fast the profession of our faith.

1. Hold fast the truths professed. Whatever truths of God we have known and made profession of, we must be careful to hold them fast. This the apostle Paul enjoins to Timothy, 2 Epist. i. 13. Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Departing from the faith professed is a grievous transgression; and the apostle here, in this chapter, in these dreadful words that have been so frightful unto many a poor weak conscience, has his eye upon this crime that I am warning you against: If we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sin. A word, I say, that has been grievously mistaken by many a poor exercised creature; a scripture the devil has made use of to disquiet many an honest heart. It is not, if we sin wilfully, if we sin against light and knowledge, that there remains no

more sacrifice for sin; that were one of the most dreadful things that can be thought of. The apostle's meaning certainly is this, If we sin wilfully by abandoning the faith of Jesus Christ, who is the only propitiation for our sins, we shall find that there is no other sacrifice for sin: if we resist the only true One, the blood of the covenant, and the Spirit

of

grace working therewith, as he explaineth in the 29th verse, there is then no more sacrifice for sin, for the sinner then throws away the only sacrifice, there is none else to be had, Apostasy from the Lord, and letting our profession slip, hath begun many a time at some points of truth, which a great many Christians, it may be, thought of no great importance, With what severity does the apostle thunder against the Galatians for their error in point of justification; and that was this, that they would mix the works of the law with the righteousness of Christ in the gospel, chap. i. 6, 7. I marvel, (says